Engineering employability gap: Academia speaks out

K.C. Raveendranthan, Professor, Government College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram

Raveendranthan: Fifteen to twenty per cent of students graduate as engineers annually from colleges in the self-financing sector. Students are not up to the mark and nor is the environment conducive [for learning]. College education has come down because of the mushrooming of various colleges that are the private but aided institutions. [The overall] quality of students [has] suffer[ed]. Students lack good basics and logic.

[And] input from industry is not good. Industrial training [college project work] is not strictly adhered to and the quality is not really rewarding. It needs improvement. Limited OJT [on-the-job training] is offered. Students are [therefore] not industry ready.